There's a not-so-new buzzword attacking the world of consumer products: "Customizability." It's the latest trend and the latest push, and outside of having Burger King's meat YOUR WAY, there's never been a more clear cut example of customizability infiltrating the world of we-the-consumers as Tylenol's new "Flavor Creator" kit -- medicine that you make yourself!

Well, sort of.

The boxed set includes a standard bottle of cherry-flavored liquid Tylenol, but to boost its appeal and make the thought of sipping gross medicine a little more palatable to kids, Tylenol also includes a bag full of tiny packets filled with powdered "crystals" representing four different flavors: Strawberry, green apple, bubble gum and chocolate. Yes, chocolate.

After pouring the regular dose of liquid Tylenol, you're free to pick your desired flavor, rip the packet open and dump the generous portions of chalky, colored powder into the tiny plastic cup. As the instructions advise against stirring, the point is to mask whatever unpleasantness comes with medicine by covering your mouth in vaguely candy-flavored dust.

To a degree, it works. I gave the chocolate dirt a whirl, and though I'm not sure I tasted much in the way of chocolate, I didn't taste much in the way of Tylenol, either. Of course, the powders are messy and you'll probably need to wash off your lips afterwards, but for many, that's a small price to pay to avoid tasting "pure" Tylenol.

Personally, as the liquid medicine is already made to taste like a bowl full of cherries, I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. It's interesting to whip up a cherry/chocolate syrup sundae when you need to banish a fever, but beyond the gimmick, there's not much necessity in this. Then again, a lot kids would be much more agreeable to taking medicine when they needed to if they got to act like mad lab doctors and make their "potions" first. I'm 27, and it worked for me.

Medicine is medicine, and there may be a few people who aren't crazy about turning it, even subversively, into "candy." To those who'd cry foul, I offer you this: Even if you dump each of the twenty included flavor packets into a single dose of Tylenol, it won't taste like candy. I wouldn't know what to call it, but that stuff isn't candy.

While Tylenol's Flavor Creator kit is obviously kid-skewed, adults who've grown sick of the "usual" medicine taste will be happy to learn of another of Tylenol's recent exploits: Liquid fever medicine with golden vanilla flavoring. If this keeps up, we won't need ice cream anymore.

Nice... Just watch the dumb kids overdosing on this without adult supervision...

Chestnuts roasted by Mofongo @ 04/26/2006 10:13 PM EST

I think this is awful...but I guess kids would like it better than 'real' medicine. I hate ultra fake flavors in medicine, myself. Pills all the way! I am an expert pill swallower.

Matt- Is your Pac-Man tattoo in the original yellow color, or is it black? Did it turn out well- are you happy with it? I fear getting a Thundercats tattoo and they fuck up the logo somehow, and it won't look 'just right'...

Chestnuts roasted by Muppet Baby @ 04/26/2006 10:20 PM EST

Since it's already pre-flavored with that abysmal artificial cherry flavor anyway, I can't see it tasting good no matter what unstirred dust is thrown on top of it. I'll just stick to orange juice and chicken soup, thanks.

I too, am an EXCELLENT pill swallower! Even the really bad tasting ones go down lickety split! I agree that this would prob. make kids more likely to overdose on Tylenol. At the very least, cause severe liver damage. Medicine isn't suppossed to taste "good" that's why they don't market it as "candy". It's not candy. It's medicine.

You should be thankful enough that someone invented the drug to cure you, and not be worrying about how the shit tastes.

If I didn't take my bad tasting medicine, I'd be dead.

On the other hand...could you take a Lik 'em Aid stick and eat the powder with that? Or could you just down it like a Pixie Stix?

Mystie don't forget the Dran-O!

Chestnuts roasted by kidneyboy @ 04/26/2006 10:28 PM EST

I never had this issue as a kid because my mom was into homeopathy. I still don't use these drugstore medicines because it means extra work for me, going to the drug store while sick and all rather than just using the stuff I have at home.

She'd just stick this powdered stuff that I've forgotten the name of into a spoonful of apple sauce and be done with it. Worst case scenario was getting stomach problems and having to swallow some bitters in hot water.

And for a sore throat, a spoon full of honey covered in black pepper. Seriously, it works. Don't leave it in your mouth, just swallow straight down, so you only taste honey, and it makes you feel much better. Now THAT'S medicine as candy, it's pretty yummylicious.

Oh, this also kind of reminds me of the flavored polish they'd give you at the dentist after they cleaned everything up. I hated that stuff, most of it tasted like a mix of chalk and household cleaners.

Apparently, the candy/medicine thing seems to work better when it's not officially meant for eating. Case in point: fruity chapstick and sparkly-blue bubblegum toothpaste. Yum!

Chestnuts roasted by venison @ 04/26/2006 10:48 PM EST

Flavored chapsticks. I remember thinking my cousins were freaks when I was little because I'd go over to their house, and they'd be sitting around eating chapstick like candy. Not even any exotic flavors like I remember getting one year for x-mas (mint chocolate chip & peanut butter!), just the ordinary wax flavored stuff. Then again, before I knew any better, I'd open up a pack of Ramen noodles, and eat the the compressed noodle block raw.

Chestnuts roasted by Rob @ 04/26/2006 10:59 PM EST

I have a couple of problems with this:

1) I always liked the taste of Children's Tylenol, though from reading the previous posts, it's obvious not everyone did.

2) Doesn't matter if it tastes like candy. If it *looks* enough like candy, little kids will try to eat it. Especially when, as I've illustrated, some kids actually do like the taste of Tylenol. The package by itself looks pretty damn enticing. And don't get me started on gummy vitamins.

3) As kidneyboy said, it's medicine, and it's there to make you well, not to taste good. My god, are kids now so spoiled that they can't even deal with medicine tasting bad? Have parents become so lax that they'll just say "Okay honey, since your medicine tastes yucky and you don't want it you don't have to take it. We'll just wait for that fever of 102 to go away on its own!"?

4) If they're gonna do this to kid's medicine, they may as well do it to foul medicines adults have to take. Milk of Magnesia is the nastiest thing on the planet.

Chestnuts roasted by jazzy @ 04/26/2006 11:15 PM EST

Though it has the potential for misuse from bored teenagers thinking they'll get an awesome-o buzz from liquid Tylenol, I'm more just aware that some people will be ticked about the Flavor Creator than one with the protest. It's not that hard to keep medicine out of kids' reach, so long as you don't take their curiousity/stupidity/ignorance/whatever for granted.

More likely to be misused is the unpictured-but-mentioned golden vanilla stuff, because it's Tylenol PM (much more attractive for stupid purposes) and because those in the correct age bracket to consider over-the-counter medicine as a night on the town will feel more comfortable buying that than the obviously-meant-for-little-kiddies Flavor Creator.

So, no beef with Tylenol here -- I don't think they should be forced to make medicine taste like ass to keep people from misusing it. That said, it's kind of a shitty product anyway. If you ever try it, you'll see. The liquid medicine itself is nearly like maple syrup in consistency. Add a handful of chalk dust, and it's really messy and not at all something you can just "down" with any degree of excellence.

I do appreciate it for being the most interesting product I spotted this week, though.

If not for this sentence, my reply would've started and ended with "though."

Actually, I guess it still did.

Well, it almost did.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 04/26/2006 11:24 PM EST

Rob, there's nothing wrong with eating raw blocks of Ramen noodles. I'm in college now and I still do it. Of course, it does taste better if you sprinkle the seasoning packet over the raw noodles

As for the Tylenol, anything (well, almost anything) would be better than that artificial cherry taste. I try to avoid cherry-flavored medicines because I hate that taste, but I'll take 'em if I have to. This might make that a little better, though.

Chestnuts roasted by snowpsycho @ 04/26/2006 11:59 PM EST

If anyone would know, it's the residents of this blog (or maybe Matt himself) : I heard over the radio that there is a website that specializes in selling discontinued food. Not that I plan to buy any, I just want to know where it is....a Google search provides nothing.

Could be talking about Hometown Favorites, an awesome site, but their food isn't so much discontinued as it is hard to find in many areas.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 04/27/2006 12:27 AM EST

Wow, this is messed up...

But it reminds me of a cool story... I had perscription cough medicine when I was a kid, and used to just take sips directly out of the bottle.

Except one time, when I had my tonsils out, I was given some pain medication in the exact same type of bottle.

Guess what happens when my Dad got a cold and went reaching for the cough medicine? Yep, he took the pain med. instead. It made him really drowsy and sleepy all the time, and this went on for a few days. It was pretty bad because he would just take swigs from the bottle, which was WAY more the recommended dose.

And anyway, it was pretty cool..

Chestnuts roasted by Cameron T. @ 04/27/2006 01:01 AM EST

I've never had liquid Tylenol. I just place the pill in my mouth and take a swig of a good drink like the pill's not even there. Nothing to it.

Mara: I hate that polish crap too. I find mint to be the most tolerable flavor though.Because:1. It's pretty hard to screw up 'mint'.2. It makes your mouth feel clean (like it should).3. Thanks to years of toothpaste, mouth wash, and gum, I'm used to keeping mint-flavored things in my mouth without ever swallowing them.

Chestnuts roasted by RewolfJ @ 04/27/2006 01:15 AM EST

Hmmmm, so even taking into consideration the fact that tylenol has been used as a form of euthanizing people and offing oneself for years, we package it with generic crystal light and hope for the best? Fuck that. Our medicine tasted like Hot Sick. We were afraid to get sick because mom would grab that ruddy old plastic measure thingy and pour us a shot of liquid yuck.

I agree that kids overdoing it shouldn't be that big of a risk...I enjoyed the taste of "baby aspirin" as a wee one but it didn't make me chase after it, or even keep me from switching to grownup pills when the time came. What makes vanilla "golden"?

More likely to be misused is the unpictured-but-mentioned golden vanilla stuff, because it's Tylenol PM (much more attractive for stupid purposes) and because those in the correct age bracket to consider over-the-counter medicine as a night on the town will feel more comfortable buying that than the obviously-meant-for-little-kiddies Flavor Creator.

I didn't mean to come off so damn preachy before, and Matt has pointed out the obvious gap in my part in the Ty'nol beef...which is: Ty'nol doesn't get you high. At all. So why NOT make it taste good. Anyway, I used to be a pill-popper when I was a kid in 8th grade...so I really have no basis to complain about anything. Sorry.

Chestnuts roasted by kidneyboy @ 04/27/2006 02:10 AM EST

I always assumed that the reason medicine tasted so awful was so kids would drink it for fun and OD.

Chestnuts roasted by lindsay @ 04/27/2006 03:06 AM EST

I wasn't thinking of the potential for "abuse" so much as the potential of little kids (like, under 7) getting hold of it and going "ooo looks like candy", and downing a whole bunch before they realize what it is.

Of course it wouldn't be a very good parent who leaves Tylenol or any medicine within a child's reach, but still. Making the shit look like Fun Dip isn't helping.

Chestnuts roasted by jazzy @ 04/27/2006 03:29 AM EST

Apparently, the candy/medicine thing seems to work better when it's not officially meant for eating. Case in point: fruity chapstick and sparkly-blue bubblegum toothpaste. Yum!

best flavor ever, toothpaste or otherwise

Chestnuts roasted by TheMiNd @ 04/27/2006 03:39 AM EST

I'm 23 and this is amazing to me,I want some! On the note of it being to tempting to kids, no matter how much flavor you put into it, its still gonna be tylonal, and will still have a nasty taste, Never in my life have I heard of a kid drinking anything like that, except maybe me with ventolin syrup, and dimatapp, that shit was the best..As a matter of fact.I think Im gonna go buy myself a bottle...mmmmmmmm....grapey.....

I never had a problem taking liquid medacation when I was a kid. I also think kids will think it's candy and od on it. I hated taking those nasty pills so I would wrap gum around it and swallow the gum.

Chestnuts roasted by darkgamer @ 04/27/2006 05:34 AM EST

I shore wish that medicine tasted like them french-fried pertaters or some of that potted meat. um-hmm

Chestnuts roasted by SlingBlade Karl @ 04/27/2006 06:03 AM EST

On the note of cough syrups that tasted good I was always a big fan of that Jack and Jill stuff... Think it was made by Buckley's. Reminded me of concentrated Dr. Pepper. Mind you I haven't had that stuff for at least 20 years... heh heh, I'm old.

Chestnuts roasted by rockasoo @ 04/27/2006 06:39 AM EST

What they need to make is some chocolate flavored Pamprin, cuz I would be all up in that shit right now.

Is this the same conversation our parents had when they added the cherry flavor to Tylenol in the first place? Damn progression! We should just go back to forcing our kids to take castor oil and sticking leeches on them when they get a nasty bruise!

Chestnuts roasted by bitchpants @ 04/27/2006 08:56 AM EST

I don't think I'm gonna get this stuff. Not that my son wouldn't adore it as well as try to abuse it. I just couldn't find the justification in spending more money for the purpose of fun medicine. I'm so lame I buy the generic children's Tylenol. Even that tastes like "bubblegum". If were out of that, I'll smash up half an adult pill and stir it in a spoon with jelly.

Here's your ultimate Disney tip: The wife and I went last year in the middle of July it was packed except at night. We went to the Magic Kingdom at & PM our first night there and rode every single ride, including 5 trips through the Haunted Mansion and 3 on Pirates of the Carribean, and were all alone at the Electric Parade cause we were in Frontire Land. After the parade the park is empty and you may run amuk. With wise use of the extra magic hours and fast pass (grab one ride a ride with a lesser line) and before using the first one grab one for a different ride (times overlap where you can get another like 20 minutes before you ride). We eliminated MGM and Animal Kingdom on day 2 and Epcot on day 3, This left us 4 more days to do water parks and reride everything umpteen times. Saw every show too. Also be sure to sign up for the Fantasmic dinner show at MGM, it's a hell of a cool show and is sooooo packed but with dinner you eat and then are ushered in to prime seats. Disney must be done like a precise commando strike mission and you'll do it all many times over. One more thing: watch out for foreigners, they will cut in line by having one member of their group wait in line and then like 50 of them race to the front, feel free to physically block them.

Wrong; Tylenol liquid contains DXM, which is easily abused and is the equivalent of a minor acid trip if taken in the correct dose. This will be abused.

Probably by me; today, after work.

Chestnuts roasted by coler @ 04/27/2006 10:21 AM EST

I would get this stuff to add it to Cherry Nyquil. I don't care if they call it Cherry flavored, I always have to hold my nose when taking it. Although, it always does the trick, I usually pass out soon after and start having the strangest dreams.

Wow, of all the frivolous additons to our ever increasing garbage mound. This is probably one of the stupidest. Coddle those kids! We're raising a generation of wishy washy pussies!

Chestnuts roasted by Dominic @ 04/27/2006 11:07 AM EST

Whatever happened to "a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down"? I for one, can understand them maybe trying to make BABY tylenol taste better. My daughter was just a few months old and ran a terrible fever with a cold and she refused to take the bubblegum flavored stuff. She spat it out over and over again. I caved and bought the grape and she liked it just fine and her fever came down (finally) after I convinced her the evil dropper wasnt the same thing. But this seems a little dodgy. Kids tylenol - atleast when I was wee - were chewable and grape flavored and weren't too terrible. I remember chomping on those when I had pneumonia and it was decent enough to take but not anything a sick kid would want to eat a whole bottle of. Worst tasting stuff we chased with a teaspoon of sugar, just like the Mary Poppins song.

Chestnuts roasted by kittycatgirl2k @ 04/27/2006 11:25 AM EST

Meds are meds, in my continuity. What with Asthma, Diabetes, past bout with Rheumatic Fever, and three different chilhood injuries that required stitches to my big ol' noggin, my body feels odd if I don't have some sort of pill, elixir, or injection going in. And I really feel uncomfortable around needles. One good thing, I can take my two Glyburide, half an Enalapril, One big Metformin, and one baby aspirin all at once.

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 04/27/2006 11:46 AM EST

This is greeeeeaaat! Now when the lil bastards get in the medicine cabinet when no ones looking, at least you'll know they OD'ed on something that tastes good.

Chestnuts roasted by PRSense @ 04/27/2006 12:11 PM EST

Now, judging from the number of noisy irritating kids in the theater every time I go see a movie...any movie...we've got a considerable surplus of children in this country. So this is a positive first step. But if we're really serious about making this world a better place for moviegoers, somebody really needs to market cherry-flavored bleach. With easy open cap. And a prize in the bottom. I'm currently accepting both investments and proposals for our new mascot. Bleachy the Albino Tree Frog is our most promising candidate, but I have faith that you guys can do better.

Next week: Cap'n Steve reveals, in a nation-wide ad campaign, that any bottle or box marked with a pirate flag contains delicious hidden pirate candy. "Set a course for deliciousness, me young hearties! Yarr!"

Chestnuts roasted by Jedoc @ 04/27/2006 12:52 PM EST

As a small child, I nearly died when I ate an entire bottle of Flinstones vitamins.

Yes, I loved "ear medicine"! Even if I could never spell it, I knew it tasted delicious. I remember fondly the liquid and chewable versions.I still don't really get the outrage over this...I like the point about movie theaters though . That's why I try to wait until the late night shows if I'm seeing something.

Speaking of candy and medicine...Here's something I try...don't know if anyone else does (but feel free to steal the idea ) anyhow, when I have a sore throat or something, and I have to take liquid medicine, I find popsicles or fudgesicles help. What ya do, is right after you take the med, pop a popsicle or fudgesicle in ur mouth, take a bite off it, and let it sit in ur mouth for a minute. I find that it "absorbs" most of the leftover flavour in your mouth, and then leaves you with a tasty treat

Next time you find yourself in a theater full of noisy kids, here's an idea: pass around some NyQuil shooters.

Capital "N,"Little "y,"Great big frakkin' "Q!"

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 04/27/2006 04:21 PM EST

bitchpants: You DO have a point. I'm sure parents probably did have an unfounded fit over cherry Tylenol, and Flintstones vitamins and whatnot. Progress does tend to freak people out a little.

I guess seeing this product kinda stirs up the "in my day we had to walk 15 miles to school in the snow and take medicine that tasted like noxious chemicals" sort of feelings in me.

But I guess if adults have chocolate laxatives and orange-flavored toothpaste the kids may as well have a mad scientist Tylenol flavoring kit.

I still have a problem with gummi vitamins though. It was one thing to make Flintstones vitamins taste like candy, but gummi vitamins are *indistinguishable from actual candy* to a child who can't read yet.

Chestnuts roasted by jazzy @ 04/27/2006 04:39 PM EST

The medicine still doesn't taste good--I can't imagine that there'd be a child that would think that liquid nasty would be good enough to overdose on. It's not like it's flavored tramadol or anything, jeez!

Chestnuts roasted by Sunday @ 04/27/2006 05:16 PM EST

Okay.this is way, way, way, off topic, but does anyone here remember the show You Can't Do That On Television? It was on early nickelodeon and I loved it. Just wanted to see if anyone else knew what the hell I was talking about.

Chestnuts roasted by theniXer @ 04/27/2006 05:42 PM EST

yeah i remember that show..... but as for the tylenol.... i fucking LOVED baby asprin!!!!!!i would steal them for christ sakes!!! i wouldnt dream of sucking back any "Flavored" tylenol slime....*vomit*

Chestnuts roasted by xzev @ 04/27/2006 06:00 PM EST

orange Triaminic 4 lyfe

Chestnuts roasted by Emily @ 04/27/2006 06:17 PM EST

Making meds more kid-friendly seems to be the rage lately, especially with vitamins. Anyone seen the various commercials for Gummi Vitamins? Not to mention the Vitaball.

As for chocolate medicine, I have HORRIFIC memories of those chewy chocolate laxatives. But even they were more tolerable than the chalky Milk of Magnesia. Blech.

Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 04/27/2006 07:07 PM EST

Liquid Penicillian was THE MOST HORRIBLE thing on the planet! I still cringe and want to vomit every time I think about it. Gawd... :X

Chestnuts roasted by Ryane @ 04/27/2006 07:38 PM EST

Don't know if you're still taking advice for your trip to the Mousetrix, but I can't sing the praises of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World book loud enough. Absolutely jam-packed with information. The INTERcot and Laughing Place websites are excellent too.

Chestnuts roasted by LaGremlin @ 04/27/2006 08:15 PM EST

Man, when I was a kid, I considered the Flintstones vitamins to BE candy- we LOVED them, and would always want more and more. I didn't know they had gummi vitamins now...

craziness.

Chestnuts roasted by Muppet Baby @ 04/27/2006 09:37 PM EST

Yeah, they do have gummi vitamins; I've seen them at the Audubon Acme.

I'm not overly fond of taking any kind of drugs unless it's really necessary (like to get rid of monumental sinus headaches). All this looks like to me is a cute but pointless way of getting kids to take already-flavored medicine.

Chestnuts roasted by starwenn @ 04/27/2006 09:47 PM EST

PLEASE GOD let robitussin come up with a product like this. I drink bottles and bottles of the stuff for kicks and let me tell you id sure love a change from menthol cherry flavor. it gets to you after a while.

Chestnuts roasted by dc @ 04/27/2006 11:52 PM EST

Don't crush aspirin in jelly! My mom did this, and as a result neither my brother nor I can eat grape jelly. No PB&J sandwiches for me.

If you have a sore throat, gargling with white vinegar is the best. It hurts so good.

Chestnuts roasted by Welsh Rabbit @ 04/28/2006 12:05 AM EST

Personally, I'm a major fan of Nutrition Now's Rhino Dippin' Pops. I have the Echinacea & Vit C kind. I'm 23 years old and a former health food store manager. Honestly, I've never seen a parent purchase a box of these pop-rocks meets cherry lollypop supplement, but they were definitely popular with the 20-something staff of the store. They totally taste like candy. Way better than Flintstone vitamins.

Chestnuts roasted by Jackie @ 04/28/2006 02:45 AM EST

I think my personal favorite medicine was a cherry flavored cough losenge (spelling?) that tasted so much like a Jolly Rancher I had trouble believing as a kid the thing was doing my throat any good. I keep wanting to say it was called Mike and Ike's but that is a candy, right? Anyone know what I'm talking about?

Jabo, your fudcicles comment gets me thinking about something my dad tried to do with my sister and I. I don't know what other kids had to suffer the weird remedies sis and I suffered under him. He had us drink Hydrogen Peroxide from time to time. Later I found out from a high school chemistry teacher how dangerous that was. But one thing my dad made us do was drink metamucil, that tree-bark like crap that's supposed to make you crap. Of course kids won't drink the damn stuff, so dad found our fudgecicles, melted them down, mixed them with metamucil and figured all would be okay.

To this day, I still have a love/hate relationship with fudgecicles. Not to mention a hate/hate relationship to metamucil.

Chestnuts roasted by inkmage @ 04/28/2006 03:14 AM EST

Still love my daddy though.

Chestnuts roasted by inkmage @ 04/28/2006 03:16 AM EST

Inkmage, I think you're referring to something I remember too. I can't remember the full title but it was something "Bros" as in brothers. In fact a little Googling says it was "Smith Bros." throat drops.

Candylicious

Chestnuts roasted by Soj @ 04/28/2006 04:00 AM EST

Welsh Rabbit: I agree with the grape jelly thing. My mom mixed in some disgusting, sprinkle-like asthma medicine into Cool Whip, and to this day I taste that shit in whipped cream. I'm mentally sick because of that.

My aunt was an Irish Catholic who married into our German Catholic clan. Which effectively means that, while we're all drunks, she's the only one who will give a child a hot vodka seven as a sore throat remedy. Good times.

Chestnuts roasted by Jedoc @ 04/28/2006 07:07 AM EST

Wow your parents did all that for you guys? Man! All I ever got was a glass of water right after just to wash it down and help with the after taste.

Chestnuts roasted by PRSense @ 04/28/2006 08:31 AM EST

I recall, in high school, people drinking an entire bottle of robotussin, and I know I spelled that wrong. They would call it "roboing". I never remember it looking like fun. There was always lots of puking involved. welsh rabbit and mtrox-I was a jelly/tylenol fed kid till I was about 10, and I have no thing against jelly now. I think the trick is to swallow the glob without chewing. That way you don't taste the two together. If there's enough jelly, it all just slides down...

my personal fave was luden's cough drops. they served no medicinal purpose whatsoever. they were so useless that they were banned from my elementary school because they were nothing more than candy. so tasty though.

theniXer - i loved you can't do that on television. i just bought a YCDTOT t-shirt at hot topic. I don't know how anyone can not love the show that gave alanis morisette her start!

Chestnuts roasted by bitchpants @ 04/28/2006 10:38 AM EST

I think most of you are looking at this from the perspective of kids who grew up with Cherry Tylenol and didn't mind it. When I read this, I think of my little sister, the most non-medicine taking person ever. My sister used to get bladder infections quite frequently and they were always putting her on amoxicillin ("it tastes just like bubblegum" they always said.) I vividly remember my mother trying to force it into her mouth and my sister screaming and crying like someone was trying to stab her or something. If she ever managed to get it into her mouth, my sister would either spit it out immediately, or just hold it in her mouth crying (with my mom screaming, "just swallow it and it will be over!!!&quot until she couldn't hold it anymore and it would all come out. It usually ended with my mom in hysterics, crying and telling my sister how she was going to end up in the hospital if she didn't take her medicine and my sister screaming, "I wish you were dead!" My sister pretty much refused any kind of medicine (if it wasn't life threatening or serious, they wouldn't let it escalate to that kind of drama) and to this day (she's almost 24) she won't take medicine. She can't swallow pills. At least if it's something prescribed she's old enough to realize she has to take it and she'll stick it in something to hide the taste (she still has to ask for liquid medicine though.)

So, in my eyes, if your kid is OK with Cherry Tylenol, you probably won't spend the extra dough. I see this more for someone like my mom who is desperate for anything that might help her child take the medicine he/she needs. I mean, would you rather have your feverish child spit medicine on you and not end up ingesting any, or sticking a little overpriced powder in it so they may be more inclined to take it?

On a side note, I used to sneak Tums as a kid. My mother was horrified when she found out. And, inkmage, could those cough drops have been Luden's? They're my favorite (though I don't feel like they work. My theory is, the worst it tastes, the more medicine is in there and the more effective it is. That doesn't apply to Alka-Seltzer Cold, though. That stuff works great and I don't have to choke it down.)

Chestnuts roasted by Lori @ 04/28/2006 10:43 AM EST

D'oh! Beaten to the Luden's shout out.

Chestnuts roasted by Lori @ 04/28/2006 10:44 AM EST

I've always wanted an excuse to go around licking telephone poles and door handels for germs -- now I have one!

My sister bought the Flavor Creator kit for her kids. They said the medicine was still pretty gross, but they said I can taste it next time I'm sick if I want.

Slightly OT, does anyone remember Celestial Seasonings cough drops? I LOVED those things!! Not very good at soothing sore throats, but they were the best tasting cough drops ever.

Chestnuts roasted by Kieran Alexis @ 04/28/2006 01:56 PM EST

Oh ho ho, Kieran, my brother and I might disagree with that.

Chestnuts roasted by Pine Brother #1 @ 04/28/2006 01:57 PM EST

This is of interest to absolutely no one, but I have to share my pain...Last night, for the price of $20 and a tank of gas, I could have seen Frank McCourt speak in Beverly Hills (tied with Garcia Marquez for greatest living writer in my worthless but passionate opinion) if I had known about it before this frigging morning, 24 frigging hours too late. Frig. To connect to the topic, I'd like to point out that anyone that needs support for their "kids today are a batch of spoiled pansy wusses" stance should read Angela's Ashes for more ammo...now those were some tough kids.

Also, I just read today how the Cube was 3rd in the Console War because it looks like a kid's lunchbox? What? It looks like a box, but a lunchbox? I guess when you wanna make fun of something you gotta be really creative...

Chestnuts roasted by Roddy @ 04/28/2006 03:41 PM EST

According to one article about the Wii, they actually released the name before E3 "to give everyone a chance to vent".

So apparently they knew it was gonna piss everybody off before they even announced it. Which begs the question... why not use a different name?

Chestnuts roasted by jazzy @ 04/28/2006 03:49 PM EST

Squee-

I was totally thinking about Angela's Ashes as I was reading about all the horrible children in this thread. Jesus. I think there should be some sort of exchange, where all the really, really bad kids are sent to say, a 3rd world country and just left there for a few days without their cushy life and where no amount of tantrum throwing will get you a candy. But I'd feel bad for all the mothers in 3rd world countries having to put up with it.

Wii?*sound of kingklash falling over, trying very hard not to quote Harvey Korman from "History of the World"*!?!!!yes, a lot of it!Bwa-ha-ha-ha!

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash hiding out during the French Revolution @ 04/28/2006 04:28 PM EST

Apparently, the "ii" means "good in Japanese, and the phonetic in English is supposed to represent the unity of gamers the device will accomplish. The "ii" also represents the controllers and the players.

But all that doesn't mean squat for us Brazilians, for example. hehehe

Chestnuts roasted by Roddy @ 04/28/2006 10:12 PM EST

I still say that Pepto Bismol is the tastiest medicine on the planet. In fact, I refuse to believe it's real medicine. Whenever I get heartburn or feel like I've got the squirts, I take a swig of that stuff and instantly feel better. I think it's a placebo effect; tasting something so delicious and being told it'll keep you from crapping your pants can be a very powerful message.

I'm also convinced that pink peppermints are based on the taste of Pepto Bismol, and not the other way around. There's no way you could make a medicine taste that much like a candy, unless you were trying for Mexican candy, which is as simple as throwing hay and chili powder onto a wet cracker.

Of course, now there's cherry Pepto Bismol... which makes me angry. Pepto Bismol doesn't need a cherry flavoured variety. It's already the tastiest shit you can buy from a pharmacy short of Oxycotton. Why would you buy it when the origional is so perfect? That's like buying Pepsi Blue, White Chocolate Reese PB cups, or all those chocolate bars that are adding caramel to already existing chocolate bars for no good reason, or orange-flavoured Kitkats. If I want my chocolate to taste like oranges, I'll eat a chocolate orange. If I want my chocolate with caramel, I'll get a Caramilk or Rolo. If I want some tasty medicine that has the added bonus of keeping the skidmarks to a minimum, I'll reach for origional Pepto Bismol.

Basically, my point is... stop and look at all the varieties of existing products. Stop and look. Other than the gimmick of being new, is there anything really redeaming about them that makes you want to have them? What's wrong with just getting a regular coke? Why do I need Vanilla, Lime, Coffee, and 0 Carb varieties?

One; it is so nice to learn that I was not the only kid who would consume vast quantities of that sparkily bubblegum toothpaste. I swear, I would buy that now as a cracker spread or something. Screw yoghurt tubes, get me a tube of that Sparklez or whatever it was called.

Two; I was a kid who almost OD'd on children's Tylenol. I lived, obviously. However, the reason for me taking so much was not the taste, though it did make it easier. No, the reason I ended up taking a whole bottle of Children's Tylenol was child's logic. To me medicine was magical stuff. Having been told to take two spoonfuls, I did so. Then I figured if I took four, I'd get better in half the time. And eight would make it a quarter of the time. And the logic went until the bottle was empty. I was actually rather proud of myself, and showed it to my folks.

Which is when I got scooped up and rushed to the hospital, where they made me puke into a big stainless steel bowl that looks exactly like the one we have in our house that we use for serving Halloween candy. Maybe because my mother was a nurse she was able to order one... or maybe they gave it to her after I broke it in. All I know is that I was seriously pissed at the doctors for making me puke.

As a kid I couldn't swallow pills, so I had a lot of liquid medicine. But I do remember at least one incident where a capsule was just split in half and the powder was poured into a glass of orange pop for me. It went from orange flavoured to chalk flavoured in 0.2 seconds.

I always hated cherry medicine. I'll take grap or orange over cherry any day. On a further note, I've always love grape-flavored anything. Espeially that Purplesaurus Rex.

Chestnuts roasted by Nate @ 04/29/2006 05:45 PM EST

when my siblings and i were young and ill my darling mother knew just what to do...it consisted of a dose of the liquid medicine or chewable pills and an immediate swig of seven up or sprite, worked wonders and i never had a problem taking any kind of medicine.

i love love loved amoxocillin it was so yummilicious.

i dont see anything wrong with this "flavor creator" my sisters 2 boys are SO anti medicine and i am 100% sure the 4 y/o would take his if he got to play mad scientist with it.

and idiot parents that leave medicine where it can be found and od'd on by children should be rounded up and shot.

thank you for relieving me from my bordom for a while.

Chestnuts roasted by CherriLifeSaver7 @ 04/29/2006 08:17 PM EST

Cherri-

These days, I just follow it up with a swig of beer. Seems to do the trick.